AS a new film exploring the mystery of the afterlife opens, MONICA CAFFERKY speaks to the people who say they are able to reach ‘the other side’.

Psychic medium Lizzie Falconer, 45, lives in Sudbury, Suffolk, with husband Mike, 43, managing director of a software company. They have three children Alex, 21, Sam, 13 and Louisa, nine. She says:

When I’m working as a medium I sit quietly, ask the spirit world for permission to work with the client and then I wait for the information to come through. I hear the spirit messages as a whisper in my ear, or sometimes I might just know something.

I discovered my gift 11 years ago when I was hosting a dinner party. At the time I was a celebrity booker for PR agencies and worked with stars such as Joanna Lumley and Leslie Ash.

Over dessert I told guests that my grandmother, who died 25 years ago, had been psychic and had told me when I was little that I had the gift. My friends were intrigued and one asked for a reading. At first I said no but she said it would be fun so I reluctantly agreed and held her hand to tune in, as I’d seen my grandmother do.

After a few seconds I just knew that she was pregnant. When I told my friend what I was picking up she was shocked and replied: “I’m eight weeks pregnant, only my husband knows.”

Suddenly I was terrified. I was worried I’d opened a psychic doorway that I wouldn’t be able to close. I wanted a normal life.

Days later, however, I bumped into a friend who’d also been at my dinner party and she invited me to go on a psychic development course. I said yes because I wanted to learn how to control my gift properly and within four weeks I was seeing dead people in the street and in shops all the time.

Surprisingly I wasn’t frightened. Talking to spirits felt natural and gradually I learned how to switch it on and off. I started doing readings for friends and things soon snowballed so I decided to leave my PR role, which seemed so pointless compared with my job as a medium.

My husband is supportive of my work although he doesn’t share my spiritual beliefs. Friends also have no problem with me being a psychic although sometimes they call me “Lizzie the witch” as a joke.

However some friends do say they wouldn’t be able to cope with a client’s problems. Like the character Lonegan in Hereafter, played by Matt Damon, I’ve brought through spirits who’ve abused the people that have asked for a reading.

But unlike George I don’t run away from people who are seeking help. My job is to provide comfort and to help clients heal, which is why I’ve now trained as a hypnotherapist and Neuro-Linguistic Programming practitioner. Using these skills I can help clients to move on from trauma.

I still see spirits occasionally when I’m not “tuned in”. Once the mother of a famous actress appeared in my bedroom and told me: “Tell her to look on top of my wardrobe.” Then she vanished.

I’d no idea what the spirit was talking about but passed on the message to her daughter at her reading the following day. My client was visiting me to try to discover where her newly-departed mother had hidden her jewellery. She phoned me later to say she’d found her mum’s jewels on top of the wardrobe.

Richard Cuthbert, 31, a psychic medium from Hartlepool, Cleveland, lives with his partner David, 42, a hairdresser. He runs regular workshops for developing psychics and says:

My grandmother died from cancer when I was 12 and it was upsetting because we were very close. A few days after her funeral I saw her standing in my bedroom. She was smiling at me and that was the moment I became aware of the spirit world. I realised there was life after death.

But my fledgling skills weren’t something I discussed with friends or family. I realised that not everyone could see the dead so I kept my gift to myself. At 18 I joined a development circle at my local spiritualist church. I was taught how to open up and close down and how to pass on messages.

Like all mediums my role is to reassure people that there’s an afterlife and to provide comfort to those who are grieving. I work on a one-to-one basis and also do platform work in front of a congregation at spiritualist churches.

One case that’s a good example of my role is that of a 39-year-old woman who’d lost her husband a year earlier. She was engulfed by her grief.

I brought her husband through during a private sitting and he told me personal information about their relationship, which I passed on. He also said he loved her very much, which is a common message.

The experience was emotional, gave my client closure and permission to move on. But unlike George in Hereafter I don’t find the reunions between the living and those in spirit overwhelming.

In fact I see myself as a go-between for the two worlds. I can remain detached even if I’m bringing through someone who’s been murdered or died suddenly, which does happen during readings.

In these cases clients come to find out if their loved ones are at peace. I see it as my job to pass on their messages of love and hope.

These days family and friends are supportive about my gifts, as is my partner David. I’m totally open with people that I’m a medium because it’s very much a part of who I am and I feel humble to be able to work for spirits and in turn help people start to heal their grief.

Psychic medium TJ Higgs, 41, lives in Ware, Hertfordshire, with her sons James, 23, and Ryan, 18. Her latest book is Signs From The Afterlife (Rider, £6.99). She says:

As a child I used to see coloured lights around people but I didn’t have a real psychic experience until I was 30. I went for my first tarot reading and the psychic told me I had the gift and should go to a development circle at my spiritualist church.

I was intrigued and at my first circle I saw spirits standing among the people in the room. I was a natural medium and wanted to learn everything I could about it. I began working as a medium six years ago and experienced mixed reactions.

Some friends thought I could read their minds and others challenged me to prove my gifts. I’ve had a pretty tough time as a medium actually and like George in Hereafter I’ve walked away from it. Five years ago my mediumship triggered a breakdown.

I remember sitting in the reading room at the Mind, Body Spiritual shop where I worked, feeling utterly exhausted. I had one more client and thought: “I just can’t do this any more.” Next thing I found myself hiding under the table crying.

I took eight months off to recover and went for counselling, which really helped. I’d become drained by the emotions of the souls that were coming through. Every time you link in with a spirit you feel their pain and distress.

When a spirit has been murdered or abused you feel what they’ve been through. It’s like watching a film in your mind’s eye and it can be traumatic. It burnt me out.

These days I’m stronger and able to handle my job because I take time out regularly. I’ve been given this gift for a

reason and that’s to help people cope with their grief, which affects everyone from mothers to celebrities to royalty, all of whom I have on my client list.

Grief is such an all-consuming emotion. If a mother has lost a child the last memory they usually have is of a coffin. But a reading changes this image, it gives them joy and a message of love which can heal their pain.

TJ Higgs is holding a night of mediumship on February 4 at the Shaw Theatre, London, to raise money for the Army Widows Association. Tickets cost £20. To book call the box office on 0844 2485075.

Hereafter, directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Matt Damon, is released nationwide tomorrow.